The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: January 31, 2010

Official News page 5


REAL LIFE NEWS: TEXTING IS EDUCATIONAL

by Hazed

Its commonly thought that kids who send lots of text messages containing those annoying abbreviations are bound to be bad at spelling, or to lack reading skills, but it turns out that's not the case.

Dr Clare Wood from Coventry University in England studied the use of "texisms" - that is, abbreviations such as "plz" and "hmwrk" - by a group of kids aged between 8 and 12 over the course of one academic year. She states that texting "appears to be a valuable form of contact with written English for many children, which enables them to practise reading and spelling on a daily basis."

She concludes, "If we are seeing a decline in literacy standards among young children, it is in spite of text messaging, not because of it."

Frequent texting also helps develop a child's phonological awareness - their ability to detect, isolate and manipulate patterns of sound in speech. Dr Wood feels that further research will help teachers and parents to recognize "the potential to use text-based exercises to engage children in phonological awareness activities."

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